Abstract
Latinos became the largest "minority" group and significantly increased their political representation in Massachusetts in the past decade. Even with these gains, their political power is not nearly commensurate with the size of their population. Many aspects of Latino political demographics, including a large immigrant population with low citizenship rates, high poverty rates, and dispersion across many electoral districts, contribute to their underrepresentation. The political demographics facing Massachusetts Latinos have led many analysts to prescribe alternative electoral systems as avenues to achieve increased political representation. This article reviews the critiques of the 1970s and 1980s civil rights redistricting strategies and explores the prospects that the "new" 1990s strategies could offer Latinos in the six cities where they are highly concentrated and at the state level. The author projects gains for most legislative bodies, but at a rate lower than suggested by proportionality advocates.
Recommended Citation
Racusen, Seth
(1995)
""New" Civil Rights Strategies for Latino Political Empowerment,"
New England Journal of Public Policy: Vol. 11:
Iss.
1, Article 11.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.umb.edu/nejpp/vol11/iss1/11
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